Week 5 Term 1, 2025

As we continue to keep Pope Francis in our prayers as he battles his illness, let us pray for him and for all we know who are sick and suffering through illness.

"Dear Lord, we lift up all those who are facing illness today. We ask that You would bring healing, comfort and peace to their bodies. Calm their fears and let them experience the healing power of Your love. In Jesus name, Amen."

It’s hard to believe we are already in Week 5 of the term! The time has flown by so quickly, and we’ve already seen so many exciting moments come to life in our school community.

We are excited to introduce a new member to our school family: Nicole, please join us in welcoming Nicole as she begins her journey with us. We also extend a warm welcome to Brenton and Maricel, Nicole’s parents, who we are happy to have as part of our community. We look forward to getting to know them better and supporting Nicole as she embarks on this new journey with us.

Looking ahead, we are all eagerly anticipating our Sports Day, which is just around the corner. It’s one of the highlights of the year, bringing everyone together for a day of fun, teamwork, and healthy competition. Whether you’re participating or cheering from the sidelines, it’s always fun. More details are included in this newsletter.

Next week, we will begin the season of Lent, with Ash Wednesday marking the start of this important time. Lent is a season for reflection, growth, and renewal, and we look forward to the many opportunities for spiritual enrichment that it brings. More details about Ash Wednesday and upcoming Lenten activities are shared in this newsletter.

Martin Hayes (Acting Principal)

Lent

Lent begins next week and is a special time of the year. It is a time of spiritual renewal and reflection in preparation for Holy Week and the celebrations of Easter. The three main ways we do this are through Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.

During Lent at St James, we fundraise each week for Caritas Australia, who run a program during Lent called Project Compassion. This year’s theme is, “Let’s all Unite against Poverty”. As individuals we can help others, but when we come together as a school community our good becomes great.

Each week during Lent a class group, with the support of our new Mission Leaders, will organise a small fundraiser to contribute to the project. The brief idea of the activities and dates during Lent are listed below. Each class group will advertise prices and activities as their week gets closer. Keep an eye out for some posters around the school and on Seesaw for more information. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Week 6 – Tuesday 4^th March Shrove Tuesday – Gold coin donation

Wednesday 5^th March – Ash Wednesday Mass (led by the Year 3/4 Class) in the church. All Welcome

Week 7 – Friday 14^th March - Pyjamas Day – Gold coin donation

Week 8 – Day TBC - Coin Charlie (Reception Class)   Bring as many coins as you like

Week 9 – Friday 28^th March - Sausage Sizzle at Lunchtime (Yr 3 /4)

Week 10 – Bake Sale Thursday 1pm April - 3pm (Yr 5/6)

Week 11 – “Chicken Throw” at Lunchtime (Yr 1 /2)   Gold coin donation

OP SHOP

The Pop-Up Op Shop is coming together, and  we're very grateful for all of the donations that are coming in! We would greatly appreciate any help with sorting items. If you're unable to attend our sorting sessions on Wednesdays (9-11am or 6:30-9pm), feel free to stop by at a time that suits you best and just sot and place items with others of the same category. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

We continue to accept donations! You can drop them off on the front porch of the hall at any time.

The Pop-Up Op Shop will take place on Friday 21st, Saturay 22nd, and Sunday 23rd March.  In conjunction with this we are also running a Trading Table and BBQ on the Saturday, and would appreciate donations of any goods to sell - baked items (please label with ingredients), jams, pickles, craft etc.  Please drop items off to the Parish Hall kitchen either Friday afternoon or by 9am on the Saturday morning.  Again, your donations and help will greatly benefit our school and children.

CATERING EVENT – SATURDAY MARCH 29^TH

The P&F are catering for the Northern Areas Show Association Award dinner.  We are not asking parents to donate food for the event, but are looking for volunteers to help on Saturday 29th March.  

Sam Catlin will prepare as much food as possible prior to the event but will still need some helpers for a morning shift and then for the night shift.   We are also looking for some waitresses (happy to have some past students or year 6's that might be happy to help).

This will be a really great fundraiser for the school  and a fun way to be involved so please consider helping out.  If you think you can help or would like to know more, please message or call Sam on 0475 065 467.

Sports Day – Week 6 – Friday 7th March

Our Sports Day is fast approaching. Sports Day takes place at the end of Week 6 on Friday, 7^th  March, prior to the long weekend.

The schedule for the day is as follows;

• 8:55am – Students arrive at JCS Oval and meet their class teacher

• 9:15am – Welcome, Prayer Service and Health Hustle

• 9:30am – Long distances running races

• 10:00am – Tabloid events

• 11:00am – Sprints

• 11:30am – Relays and Team events

• 12:00pm – Trophy Presentations

• 12:30pm – Conclusion, pack up and dismissal of students

*Please note that while every effort will be made to adhere to the timetable set out in the Sports Day program, we may run ahead of or behind time.

On Thursday 6^th March from 11.30am to 12.30pm we will be running a few events prior to Sports Day on our school oval. Parents are very welcome to come and watch.  These are Junior Primary – Quoits and Upper Primary - High Jump and Discus. 

Volunteers

Thank you to so many of you who have already put your hand up to assist on the day. We will be in contact soon about your allocated roles. There may be also be some jobs that we call for helpers on the day. Parent help certainly makes the day run smoother. We appreciate and thank those in advance who are able to step in when necessary.

Sports Day Uniform

Students will need to wear their school PE uniform shorts with a plain POLO SHIRT in their team colour. If you have any difficulty sourcing a polo shirt, please let us know at the front office as soon as possible. We have a few spare shirts.

ST JAMES – RED     ST MARY’S – BLUE      ST JOSEPH’S - GOLD

Hats are compulsory on sports day so please make sure your child has a hat.

BBQ Lunch

The P&F will have a sausage sizzle bbq, soft drinks and fruit boxes for sale at the end of sports day, and a coffee van will be on site for the morning.

Thank you to all the families that supported our ‘Wear Red Day’ to support the Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser. From our gold coin donations and morning tea, we raised a total of $321. Thank you to all the students and Mrs Gresch for assisting with baking and preparing the morning tea. We were able to give these funds directly to Kelly Kelly who was then able to add this to their funds raised at their community event on Friday night.

In 2025 St James will be offering mid year enrolments. If your child turns 5 before 31st October 2025, they can start school at St James in Term 3 2025 and the school fees are free. Children starting in Reception mid-year will have a minimum of 6 terms in Reception.

Interest and enrolments are also open for the beginning of 2026. Please contact the school and register your interest and book a discovery school tour. Children who turn 5 on or before 30th April can begin school in Term 1 of 2026.  Please spread the word to other family members and friends.

Math can be a difficult subject to comprehend.  It is full of challenges and abstract concepts. Sometimes students feel so much pressure to get the right answer that it can bring on high levels of stress, confusion, and dislike for the subject.

Having a ‘growth mindset’ means that you believe that you can learn anything and that our intelligence can grow. A growth mindset helps you develop persistence, the wish and grit to keep trying. It also helps with chances of success in mathematics and other curriculum areas.

At St James we are building a community of growth mindset Numeracy learners. Ideas of how you can assist your child to develop a growth mindset can be found here. Search | Mathematics Hub

Maths is everywhere. Something we can all do to help our children build an understanding of maths, is to insert the language of maths into everyday conversations. When we talk about the shape of objects,( circle, square, triangle, rhombus etc), use the language of measurement and measurement comparisons, (long, longer, longest, high to highest, holds more, holds less, fast slow etc). Games can be a great way to build regular maths practice without children knowing they are actually doing maths.

Sandra Gresch (Leader of Learning – Maths)

My favourite part of school (so far).....

Eddie Kelly: colouring in

Max Kelly: sports day and playing footy with all the kids

Tilly Lang: writing and making books

Callie Walter: sports with Ms O

Stella Barnden: I love listening

Sienna Moore: climbing 

Eddie Leslie: the sandpit

Declan Peacock: playing with my friends

Millie Home: playing with my friends

Felix Simon: colouring in & printing off